Dennis Allen speaks with the media following Day 13 of Saints training camp practice.
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00:00 All right. So Kurt Merritt left practice today. Hamstring tightness, again, we'll get it looked at. Kind of the same hamstring that was bothering the other day. So, but other than that, thought we made it out. Pretty good. Lonnie Johnson, banged knees over there and then had a little cramping. But again, we'll evaluate him to see if there's anything, but we didn't think anything significant on the field. So I thought it was a good practice today. You know, again, a lot of situations that we've had.
00:29 Again, a lot of situational work, works in short yardage, works in, you know, move the ball, having to work substitutions. And also got down in the red zone and move the ball a little bit. So it's good work.
00:41 Yeah, look, I think it's been, I think it's been good. I think, I think Chris is really coming along. I think he's improved a lot. You know, it's been good to see him make some of those contested catches that we've talked about.
01:05 He's still a great transitional route runner at the top of the route. And I think him and Derek have, you know, gotten a pretty decent rapport.
01:15 Yeah, yeah, well, look, there's a reason why we went up and got it got him in the draft. We feel like he's got a chance to be a really good receiver in this league. And I think he's proven it.
01:34 Yeah, I've seen I've seen a step forward with Carl just about every year he's been here. He's kind of gotten a little bit better each and every year. You know, he's playing the run really well right now. He's playing really physical. He's always had the ability to kind of rush the passer. That's kind of been something that has been a trait of his that we've, you know, we've liked, but he's really improved a lot.
02:03 He's really improved himself as a run player. And look, you know, that's, you know, obviously a huge testament to him. I mean, here's a guy that, you know, he comes in here, he's like 237 pounds when it gets here. And he's up to about 282 pounds. And he's worked extremely hard just every day comes to work does his job. And when you do that, you get better. And I think he's a guy that we're certainly going to be counting on this year.
02:31 You said like two weeks ago, you wanted somebody to grab the other defensive end spot opposite of Cam Jordan. Do you feel better about that spot?
02:43 Look, I feel good about that spot. I mean, I don't know that we're ready to make any decisions yet. Because I think Peyton Turner's played really well. I think Tano's had a good camp, you know, so I think that's a position that we're, we've got some depth at it at that position. And so yeah, I think that's good.
03:05 What would you say your evaluation of him so far?
03:10 I'd say still a work in progress.
03:13 I think ultimately, like, I just like to see him just cut it loose. I still think he's trying to process a little bit.
03:20 He's got a really good skill set.
03:23 He's good kid, he works hard.
03:26 I think that just comes with time and comes with reps and comes with being comfortable in the system.
03:32 You know, knowing exactly what to do and how to do it.
03:36 And so, look, he's improving, he's getting better.
03:40 He's not there yet.
03:43 But I like his trajectory. I like what he's doing.
03:46 I just think ultimately as he gets more and more reps, he'll get more and more comfortable and start to cut it loose a little bit more.
03:53 We haven't seen any of the like, after the whistle stuff with Trevor this year. Was that like something that you all...
03:58 We had a little bit of it today, but nothing too spectacular.
04:02 That was like, it's like, you know, everybody's looking for it last year.
04:06 Yeah, I think, I actually think people made way too much of it.
04:11 You talk about the after the whistle stuff. Look, the guy plays hard and he's going to block you all the way down the field.
04:18 And that's what we want, you know, so.
04:23 Yeah, I don't think too much about it really, to be honest with you.
04:27 But I guess the question is more, did you all try to take the tone down a little bit of it to, you know...
04:35 No, no.
04:37 Have you seen growth from him in the past retention time?
04:41 Yeah, yeah, I have.
04:43 Again, he's not there yet.
04:48 But he's, he's, he's getting closer and closer every single day.
04:52 And so, he's missed a lot of time.
04:55 So he needs those reps. He needs that work.
04:58 He'll get plenty throughout this camp and in the preseason.
05:01 And, you know, I think, you know, I think he'll be ready to go by the time we get to week one.
05:08 On the offensive line, UDFA putting out of HBCU's Mark Evans.
05:14 What do you see from him so far?
05:15 Yeah, I think he's an athletic player inside.
05:18 He's got some power.
05:22 You know, he's, he's working hard.
05:25 And, you know, I've seen some good things in a lot, like with a lot of these rookies, whether they're, you know, undrafted free agents or their draft choices.
05:33 You know, there's going to be some roller coaster.
05:35 There are going to be some ups and some downs.
05:38 But really what you're looking for is, the number one thing is you're looking for some of the flashes, which I've seen out of him.
05:45 And now it's really just about getting more consistent.
05:47 You've seen him kind of manage the adversity of not always succeeding, you know, like that.
05:51 I imagine that's a big part of that growth.
05:53 Yeah, I think it's, I think it's that way for a lot of guys.
05:55 You know, look, Nick Saldivari is a kid we drafted out of Old Dominion.
06:00 And, you know, he's dealing with some of the same, you know, ups and downs.
06:05 And yet you see some of the flashes.
06:06 And, you know, hopefully as we continue to get more reps and they get in some of these preseason games,
06:12 you can start to see a little bit more consistency out of those guys.
06:15 Are you going to be in the Dome tomorrow?
06:17 Have you changed anything in practice?
06:18 Are you going to be having some more different things in the Dome?
06:22 No, no, not really.
06:24 I mean, I think part of it is just, you know, there's a new turf out there,
06:28 so we're going to get a little bit of a feel for that.
06:31 You know, let everybody, you know, we've got some new players,
06:33 so let everybody get in and get a sense for what the Dome's like, the lighting, all those types of things.
06:39 Still a lot of situational work tomorrow.
06:43 The guys that have never been here probably get them over there and let them take a look at the locker room
06:47 just so they know the lay of the land.
06:50 You know, so when it comes Sunday, it won't be the first time they've ever been in there.
06:54 [Inaudible]
07:14 Look, I think you always evolve.
07:17 I do think that the type of player that we get now is probably different than it was, Bobby,
07:22 when you were playing back in the day.
07:24 You know, I mean, the way we practice is different than it was back then.
07:29 You know, so I think you're always looking to evolve.
07:31 And ultimately, it really doesn't matter how you get the job done.
07:36 It's really about, you know, how do you teach
07:41 and how do you demand your players to do what you want them to do.
07:46 And there's a lot of different ways to get that.
07:48 And ultimately, all of these players, at the end of the day,
07:52 they just want to know that you can help them be better.
07:55 And so there's a lot of different ways you can get to that.
08:00 [Inaudible]
08:06 Yeah, I don't know that that happens as much anymore as it used to happen.
08:13 You know, I'm sure that, you know, Coach Reed, you know,
08:17 has a plan on how he wants to, you know, go throughout the preseason.
08:21 We've got a plan on how we want to go about the preseason.
08:24 And, you know, we'll go out there and play football and see what happens.